Rajasthan village shows unique way to save water

A village in Rajasthan's Udaipur district has decided to slap a fine of Rs.500 on anyone found wasting drinking water.

The decision has been taken by the panchayat of Ward No.4 in Bhutala village near Gogunda town, some 300 km from here.

"About 92 people participated in the meeting, of them 39 were women. It was decided unanimously that whoever would waste water would have to shell out Rs.500 as fine," said panchayat's upa-sarpanch (deputy head) Leela Bai.

She added that a five-member panel has been formed to implement the decision and keep an eye on the wastage of water.

"The government has set up water pumps at public places. All villagers get water from these pumps for drinking. But it has been observed that people tend to forget to turn off the pumps. So, a lot of water goes down the drain and is wasted," Leela Bai said.

She added that an awareness campaign was launched to stop wastage of water but it didn't yield any result. Thus, it was decided to impose a fine on those who waste water. "We will strictly implement the decision," Leela Bai said.

Rajasthan is one of the driest states of India with just one percent of the country's total surface water available. The rivers of the state are mainly rainfed and identified by 14 major basins divided into 59 sub-basins.

The surface water in the state is mostly confined to south and south-eastern parts of the state.

There is a large area in the state's western part which does not have any defined drainage basin.